MinkFlamingos

Nov 4 The Weekly Peanut, Issue 142

We've had a pretty excellent Halloween weekend, I must say. D continues to prove that, even if she's being a poop with her mom and dad, she knows how to turn on the charm with everybody else. I suppose if I have to choose, I'd rather have it that way than the other way around. We got into the Halloween spirit Friday night by watching the Hocus Pocus show on youtube. Over and over. Story of my life.

It was pretty great to finally be able to say "Yes!" to D when she came to my bed Saturday morning and asked if it was Halloween yet. Finally, D will get decked out in the absolutely amazing costume I commissioned from Sharan. Who's your friend that loves to play?

BING BONG! BING BONG!

Whose rocket makes you go HOORAY?

BING BONG! BING BONG!

Bright and early I took D out on the patio and turned her hair pink. We pinned and buckled and buttoned and clipped. We sprayed cotton candy scent. We stuffed extra rainbow pins and treat bags into the special candy sack I'd made (yup, puff paint, my old nemesis...) and headed out to Magic Kingdom. I've mentioned in the past (check out Project Thank You) how important it has been to me to show D the joy of giving to others, and Halloween seemed like a great opportunity. D was SO excited to hand out those bags, even though the loaded sack was a bit big and heavy for her, she wanted it strapped to her from the first minute. D started handing out bags on the monorail and never looked back.

Our first stop can be no surprise to regular readers.

Just when it was getting to the point that I was feeling guilty about the line of people waiting behind us, Tiana grabbed Daphne's hand and they made a trip down the line of people handing out treat bags along the way. Treat bags for all the blueberries and photopass cast members, too.

Headed over to Enchanted Tales with Belle for the first time in ages, but I knew we had to stop in since the cast in the library has always been so great to us. Saturday was no exception. Belle was charming, and the photopass and attendants all went out of their way to be awesome to my kid as always.

We hauled tush down to Town Square for our last chance to catch the Fall Trolley show this season.

Obligatory ride on the Haunted Mansion (with FastPass, Halloween was getting really busy!). Did we mention the temperature was climbing toward 90? D was totally dedicated to that costume (I know it looks hot, but the jacket is unlined single layer cotton, just like the undershirt, made for Florida weather as much as possible). We ran into an incredibly sweet cast member named CC who was earning her ears in Liberty Square. She had D ring the bell, D gave her a treat bag.

Got to see our friend, Denise, rocking her awesome Moana costume (D asked if she was Lilo. I'm sure by this time next year there won't be any confusion once that movie comes out).

Dumbo ride family selfie!

Just a couple of pachyderms...

It was just too hot. Really. We were ready to call it a day. We ran into Lindsey on our way out.

Lindsey offered to take our treats to the Tremaines, who we'd missed seeing because of bad luck with timing. The Tremaines were delighted with their treats, and Lady T was particularly pleased that she got a Disgust ring from Inside Out.

Thanks, Lindsey!

Halloween merch already marked down 40%? Ok, a quick pit stop at the main street emporium was in order.

D asked if we could take the boat over to the Polynesian for lunch.

D was pretty worn out, but I was still pleasantly surprised that she managed to get a nap on the way home (it wasn't that late!). I told her she needed one if she wanted to go trick or treating, I guess she took that to heart. We'd originally planned to wear Bing Bong that night around the neighborhood, but she'd gotten pink from her hair all over it so I let her pick out something else. No surprise to me...

She's really nailing that Tremaine pose.

Ian carved that pumpkin as a surprise for kiddo the night before. We hit the street when the sun set. Lots of kids in the neighborhood and plenty of houses that get really into decorating in this neighborhood. D made friends with a couple of other little girls, hitting a few houses together. D only let me walk up to the door with her for the first couple of houses. After that, "No Mommy, you stay here, I do it myself." She'd march up to the door and knock. "Happy Halloween!" as soon as the door is answered. Candy in the bag? "THANK YOU!" Like I said earlier, she's great at manners with other people, it's just mom and dad mostly who get the turd. A house nearby had a LOT of crazy halloween decor, soundtrack, mini haunted house, the whole nine. A girl who was a little older than D took one look and said, "Oh, that's scary." D didn't miss a beat, "Noooo it not scary! It's SPOOOOOOKY!" This is exactly what we told D if she said she was scared to go on Haunted Mansion. She marched right up to the Haunted House sans Mommy. She came out grinning. "How was it kiddo?" "Spooky!" "What was in there?" "CANDY!!!" All right then.

Sunday was a day for relaxation after burning the candle at both ends for most of October. Daphne came charging into our room in the morning as usual. "MOMMY! It not Halloween anymore!" Nope. "IT CHRISTMAS!!!" Ahhh... nope...

Started out with breakfast at Lechonera Latina. There was music, so D insisted on dancing. Fortunately, she has an awesome Daddy who was totally down.

D found her ideal Christmas tree.

D is still hit-or-miss with live action movies. We'd tried to introduce her to Addam's Family last week, but she just wasn't interested. Tried Addam's Family Values this time. WINNER WINNER CHICKEN DINNER. Come on, how can you not love Debbie?

MOMMY WHY YOU TAKE A PICTURE??

Monday night we had an early Christmas miracle. Seriously. I'd made turkey taco lettuce wraps for dinner. I was planning to have to bribe her to get her to eat some of the meat. I brought her up to the counter, and I showed her how to make her own tacos.

She LOVES making/helping with dinner. We spooned the meat onto the lettuce, then sprinkled cheese over it (her favorite part). Then... you guys... I still can't believe it myself...

SHE ATE THEM. GREEN LETTUCE. WRAPPED AROUND TACO MEAT. Then she asked for MORE! She ate FOUR turkey taco lettuce wraps! HALLELUYERRRR. I'm desperately hoping this might mark a turning point with her eating habits. Keep your fingers crossed for us, ok?